Almost Perfect [Mass Market Paperback]

Widow Cassandra Marston, her wastrel father Roland Conningsby, and younger sister Elizabeth, are about to travel from their foreclosed home in England to Scotland in the hopes of escaping creditors and securing passage to America. A notorious gambler, Conningsby placed Elizabeth "on-the-table" as a gambling bet...and lost. When the despicable winner, Neville Mayne, Earl Bucksden, arrives to collect Elizabeth shortly before their departure, Cassandra, infuriated, knocks him over the head with an urn. Assuming she has committed murder, the three flee for their lives to the home of Cassandra's aunt-in-law, Philana, Lady Forster, at Ettrick House in Scotland. They arrive just in time to attend a grand ball at Ryecroft Castle. Little does Cassandra know the ensuing house party will bring her face to face with the incorrigible rake Lucien Hollier -- the man who left her six years ago because of her father's reputation.

Lucien Hollier can't believe his eyes when he sees Cassandra Marston at his friend's home, Ryecroft Castle. When she challenges him to a card game Lucien willingly accepts...and loses. Furious at his loss, Lucien sets out to expose Cassandra as a cheat, only to discover she and her family have fled in the night. He will find her. He will get his money back. Or so he thinks. Lucien can't believe his good luck when he discovers Cassandra, the victim of a carriage accident and amnesia, left alone by her father and sister at the side of the road.

Certain Cassandra has seen the last of Lucien, she's none too happy to be rescued by the rake. Now she must feign amnesia, and hope for the best. What follows is a dangerous game whereby Lucien claims she is his wife, taking her to his lodge. What can Cassandra do, but comply?

ALMOST PERFECT is the delightful debut Regency romp by versatile author, Denise Domning writing as Denise Hampton. Filled with compelling, believable characters and storyline, Ms. Hampton yet again proves herself as a romance author at the top of her game.

Fast paced, exciting, intriguing, and original, ALMOST PERFECT is a perfect read. Whether writing Medieval, Elizabethan, or, now, Regency England and Scotland, Ms. Hampton will capture the reader's attention from first page to last.

I highly recommend ALMOST PERFECT as one of the best Regency romance historicals you will read in the genre. A definite keeper!

Six years have passed since Lucien Hollier abruptly dropped his pursuit of lovely, enticing Cassandra Marston. During those years both Lucien and Cassandra contracted unhappy marriages, and both have been widowed. Now fate has given Lucien the chance to seduce into his bed the woman he has never stopped wanting. And since Cassie is now an experienced widow, rather than an unmarried innocent, he can take her as his mistress and finally quench the years of unslaked desire. But things don't go according to plan, for Cassie has an agenda of her own, one that doesn't include allowing Lucien to once again break her heart. Soon the two are locked into a battle of wits and wills that only by losing can they both win.

From the very beginning, I liked and admired Cassie. Though life has not been easy for her, Cassie has not let herself get defeated and keeps fighting to create a better life for herself, her younger sister, and even their drunken gamester father. I did not, however, care for Lucien. From his first introduction, I found myself actively despising him and feared that my feelings toward him would ruin any hope of liking the story. Fortunately, Lucien grew from a shallow, selfish man who places too much emphasis on the opinions of society -- though I admit his outlook was consistent with men of his time -- into an emotionally mature and estimable hero.

My initial dislike of Lucien stemmed from his desire to make Cassie, whom he knows to be a woman of good character and breeding and professes to have feelings for, his mistress. As much as he liked her, he considered her beneath him because of her father, which just didn't sit well with me. Also, when he spurned her six years before, he knew his actions lowered her in the eyes of the ton. Then, when her only offer of marriage came from a man he knew was far from the saint he appeared, Lucien did nothing to warn her. As a result, Cassie suffered much heartache, pain and embarrassment during her marriage. I couldn't help but feel the betrayal and unhappiness Lucien endured in his socially correct marriage his just deserts.

Happily, it soon became apparent that Lucien's dishonorable intentions towards Cassie were a smokescreen -- something he told himself to make it possible to pursue her. Yet no matter how much he told himself his course was justified and proper, he never quite pulled it off. Later, when circumstances made it necessary for Cassie to fake amnesia, Lucien masqueraded as her husband, and the fictional situation allowed them both to lower their guard, and it was during this time that they were their most honest with each other even as they "pretended."

In addition to Cassie and Lucien, ALMOST PERFECT features several other interesting and well drawn characters, specifically Cassie's younger sister, Elizabeth, their Aunt Philana, and Lucien's cousin, as well as best friend, Adam Devanney. Even Cassie's father, Roland, was not without redeeming qualities, though it took dire circumstances to spur him to change his ways.

ALMOST PERFECT, Denise Hampton's first Regency era book, proves as engaging and satisfying as her medieval romances. Though ALMOST PERFECT is her last story from her current publisher, Avon, I hope that this will not be the last book, or the last romance, from this very talented author.

Lord Buckstan enters the Conningsby home as if he owns it. His "visit" is to collect his gambling debt from winning at cards with Roland Conningsby. The stake was Conningby's teenage virginal daughter Elizabeth as his mistress. Eliza's older sister widow Cassie Marsten intercedes using an urn to hit Buckstan in the head and probably killing the odious aristocrat. Roland and his two daughters, nearly broke, flee to Aunt Philana's home in Scotland where card expert Cassie plans to win passage for the trio to America before she is arrested for murder.

The threesome stays at Ryecroft Castle where widow Lucien Hollier is also. Lucien and Cassie fell in love six years ago, but he broke it off out of fear of being a laughingstock due to the pathetic Roland as an in-law. As Cassie and Lucien play cards, their love rekindles, but she expects him to ditch her again so she plans to flee with his loot. However, Buckstan is in town seeking vengeance and his debt paid while Lucien knows he immaturely erred the last time he courted Cassie and this time will rectify his mistake.

Though Roland is so pathetic and Buckstan so odious they are cartoons of losers, ALMOST PERFECT lives up to its title due to the lead couple and her sister and his cousin. Fans will cherish Cassie, a delightful can do person, who must have inherited her mother's genes as she is no chip off her father's block. The audience will also hope that the nice Lucien comprehends that he loves her not the Ton or her father. Readers will enjoy this Regency romance just don't play cards with Cassie.

Harriet Klausner